Lamb gets a new image

Press, 15 July 1987, Page 16

Lamb gets a new image

By

MAVIS AIREY

“In the past, visitors to this country have often been puzzled — and justi-

fiably so — by one notable absentee from the menu in hotels and restaurants. Where was this famous lamb? All too often it simply wasn’t on offer,” commented the Minister of Tourism, Mr Moore, in his presentation speech at the 1987 Lamb Cuisine Gold Plaque Competition.

He surmised that the problem stemmed from the varying qualities of lamb available. Now, thanks to the efforts of the Meat Board’s Lamb Cuisine Advisory Council, top quality Accelerated Conditioned and Aged lamb is available to restaurants.

Those which join the Lamb Cuisine Award scheme agree to serve AC and A lamb as a main dish daily, and have found their innovative gourmet dishes very popular, both with tourists and New Zealanders.

Murray Dick, the executive chef of cabin services for Air New Zealand and a Gold Plaque competition judge is convinced of the value of the award approach. “It has improved the product out of sight,” he says. “A few years ago I had some airlines coming in here which refused to have lamb because they thought it was inedible. Now about 13 are taking it.” _

Neil Maclnnes, of Pacific Park-Christchurch, who won the Gold Plaque, says sales of his awardwinning dish have been 50 to 75 per cent up on sales of traditional lamb dishes. “We are trying to please our overseas visitors,” believes Alison Holst, another Gold Plaque judge. “We’re aware their wants are different from New Zealanders. We have to offer a wide range of food that appeals to people from East and West.

“The presentation of lamb has jumped in the last two or three years, but we’ve still got a long way to go before we can sit back satisfied.” The other Gold Plaque judge, Margaret McHugh, agrees. A caterer in Queenstown, she has just returned from her second trip to Japan to ascertain their tourists’ requirements, and thinks there needs to be more education of travel agents.

“I’ve just had another order from a big party who don’t want to spend more than eight dollars a head. For that, I can only give them a Japanese curry with steamed rice, fresh fruit, and a cheese board.

“It’s all subject to finance. For cocktail parties I can do seaweeds and marinated fish, green tea, and other things they

are more used to. And if they’re expecting to spend more money we can start thinking about the baked salmon, the green-lipped mussels, the fillets of venison, and the racks of lamb.” When she’s not catering for Japanese or Americans on TSS Eamslaw, Margaret McHugh runs a gourmet lamb shop, where she sells 15 to 20 different cuts of lamb, some stuffed with goodies such as oysters. The response, she says, has been tremendous.

“Why aren’t there similar shops in Christchurch and Wellington?” she demands.

One reason may be the difficulty in obtaining appropriately high quality lamb. The lamb she gets is destined for export to Marks and Spencers and Sainsbury’s in London. “I am very privileged to have access to this meat,” she agrees. With lamb consumption down 26 per cent in the last 10 years, the industry needs to provide local consumers with the same quality it has learnt to give its overseas clients. In his speech, Mike Moore pointed to consumer concerns on nutrition, convenience, versatility, and ease of preparation as areas needing urgent attention. It’s a problem the Red

Meat Promotion Council is well aware of. It has started a “Lean on Lamb” campaign and will shortly be touring abattoirs and processing plants, hoping to persuade more of them to produce AC and A lamb.

This involves the carcass going through an accelerated conditioning tunnel and being chilled down very slowly before being hung in the chiller at a specific temperature for a set length of time. The cuts are then vacuum-packed and can be frozen and thawed without affecting the quality, says Bruce Monk, the council’s marketing manager. Denis Denton, the chairman of the Red Meat Promotion Council, is also L. D. Nathan’s divisional controller of meat. He has been masterminding the introduction of AC and A lamb into the company’s

Woolworths supermarkets under the name Tendatrim. “Lamb had become a little out of date,” he feels. “We have been selling legs, loin chops, and forequarters for 100 .years. We want to bring lamb up to date with the modern shopper.” The new product is healthier because it is trimmed of fat and skin, takes very little preparation, and is quick to cook. Although it is more expensive, he argues that because the cuts are boned and trimmed, on a cost-per-serving basis the new lamb is competitive with traditional lamb. To encourage shoppers to experiment, the cuts include cooking instructions and recipe cards. The company is also bringing Hester Guy to Christchurch this week to promote the new lamb at the Shirley supermarket,

the latest to introduce Tendatrim.

Alison Holst also stresses the importance of consumer education. “We’ve got to teach people what to do with different cuts of lamb. It’s important they should be buying at both ends of the scale. There’s still a place for the traditional side of lamb, but the person with money to spend should be able to go to the butcher or supermarket and get cuts such as trimmed loin — and be provided with recipes. "Something like 46 per cent of New Zealanders live in one or two-person households, so there is a demand for small cuts, and a lot of the cuts used in the Gold Plaque competition are perfect for the small family.” It is up to us as consumers to show the demand is there,” she insists. .

Murray McFaull, of Waitaki Meats, which supplies restaurants in the Canterbury region taking part in the Lamb Cuisine Award, says the company is happy to supply outside the catering trade through their Christchurch shop. “Ask your butcher to produce AC and A lamb,” suggests Bruce Monk. “It is available in carton lots, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” He admits there may be some resistance to the new product from some die-hard butchers.

“But they are in business to satisfy customers,” he points out. If AC and A lamb is not available, the least you can do is question your butcher about how long his meat has aged, advises Robyn Cameron, the director of the Lamb Cuisine Advisory Council. She says it should be aged a minimum of two to three days.